Get Thee to the Church: St. Luke's, Ocean City, Maryland

Looks can be deceiving. St. Luke's might be the most nondescript-looking Catholic church I've ever seen (well, except maybe St. Mary's in Blacksburg, before they moved into their newly-built one which is beautiful inside and out. I hope to get in there for some photos on a future visit.) I wasn't sure what I would find when I went through the doors--would it be as sterile and colorless as St. Mary's used to be?

Nope.

Since St. Luke's was only a five-minute walk from our condo, I decided to stroll over for their 9 am weekday Mass on Saturday morning. (My family was happy about that, because they didn't have to put up with me wandering around snapping photos before and after Mass on Sunday.) I loved the sunburst window right behind the altar.

There was no lack of statues here. (The one of Mary was beautiful but I forgot to take her picture. DOH!)

Does anyone know which saint this is? I'm clueless.

There were a number of statues placed in front of windows.

I always snap a photo of my favorite Station of the Cross: Station IV, Jesus Meets His Mother. It's become a habit.

Outside by the flagpole is a memorial to fallen soldiers. Each statue represents one branch of the armed services.

For more about St. Luke's, click here!

I posted a few photos and thoughts from our visit to Ocean City on Friday; click here to see those.

Tomorrow Larry starts high school and it's the first day of preschool. You might not hear from me for a while; although I hope to update my Cooking Nick's Books blog this week. Last night we returned from a whirlwind weekend in Baltimore for the first ever Indy Car street race there; I might be sharing some of those memories here soon. Happy Labor Day!

7 Quick Takes: The Ocean City Edition

We recently spent a weekend in Ocean City, Maryland. Most beach vacations we've taken in the past have been in North Carolina, where we'll rent a house for the week in a quiet place like Corolla or Ocean Isle Beach. Curly wasn't too thrilled at first about the idea of taking this particular trip to a place that would be more crowded with lots of traffic and high-rise hotels, but once we got there he decided this was a good place to be after all.

For this week's 7 Quick Takes I thought I'd share with you some highlights:

--1--

The Boardwalk

You have to have at least one umbrella drink when you go to the beach.

The boys enjoyed some of the arcade games that WE used to play.

I don't think I've ever seen so many kites flying at once.

--2--

Sunrise

It looked different every morning.

--3--

The View

Since we normally rent a house, we've never had an ocean view like this. It met with Curly's approval.

Joe told the boys that this was called Big Assawoman Bay. They thought that was hilarious.

--4--

The Surf

--5--

The Sand

They built a sand castle that I thought looked like Diamond Head.

That's Joe burying Moe in the sand. He covered up his face to keep the sun and sand out of his eyes.

Someone built this sculpture by the boardwalk.

--6--

The Rides...

...especially the ferris wheel.

--7--

The Five-Minute Walk to Church

(Stay tuned for more about St. Luke's!)

We were a little bit concerned last weekend as Hurricane Irene approached. Ocean City got hit pretty hard, but the damage wasn't nearly as bad as everyone feared. I'm glad we got our vacation in before then!

For more Quick Takes, check out Jen at Conversion Diary!

Have a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!